A Different Feeling
by Mthos
Summary: Cerebro has picked up on the location of a new mutant, and Magneto has as well. Confused and uncertain, Nancy is made aware of the plight of mutants, and that it is also her plight. Multiple offers of help leave her not knowing where to turn, but decisions must be made. Slight OCxQuicksilver but later OCxNightcrawler.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I do not own anything in any part of the Marvel-verse, and that includes the X-Men. I do own Nancy and all of the thought I put into her abilities/character.

Please, let me know what you think!

"Speech."

' _Thought'_

[CEREBRO]

[ _Telepathy]_

* * *

 **Chapter 01: A Worrisome Headache**

"Ms. Habersham? May I be excused?" A lone hand in the air let the room know from where the voice had come.

"What is it this time, Miss DuLauncet? Another headache? Another bout of nausea? Keep it up, and at this rate you'll have excused yourself enough for the whole class."

Nancy winced and moved her other hand to hold her head. She didn't know if the increased pain was from the noise created by the class' sniggering or from Ms. Habersham's words. "Yes, Ma'am, I've got a headache." Another chorus of sniggers rippled across the classroom.

The woman at the front of the class paused mid-equation and sighed. "Yes, Miss DuLauncet, you are excused… However, I expect no less than four pages of practice equations by the end of this week to make up for some of these absences." The few scattered hands that had risen during the woman's pause slowly lowered, their owners clearly no longer wanting to try their luck at escaping class on Nancy's coattails.

"Thank you…"

* * *

There was a slight click as the lock on the bathroom stall slid into place. She didn't even bother going to the nurses' office any more. Her liver was far too important to keep taking the medicine for the headaches; besides, they always seemed to lessen when she got away from other people. Dark spots began appearing on her jeans as she let go. _'Why?! Why do these headaches keep coming? Why can't I seem to get through even one class period without some sort of panic attack or migraine? WHY?!'_ She was shaking now, and her normally bright, hazel eyes were crisscrossed with thin, red lines.

A locker slamming and a few shouts on the other side of the wall shattered what had been, other than her quiet sobbing, a blissful silence. She breathed in deeply and brought the sleeve of her hoodie across her now puffy face, groaning at the sight of streaky mascara on the fabric. She didn't know why she even tried…

She left the bathroom and turned to go toward the girl's locker room. Running would make her feel better. A little healthy competition on the track field? That always made her feel better….' _Coach always says that running empties the body of emotions, and these days, it feels like I've got emotions to spare…'_

The rhythmic thudding of her sneakers on the track and her short, sandy colored ponytail swinging back and forth between her shoulders as she settled into her pace brought her some much needed relief. She took in a steady breath and kept her eyes on the upcoming turn. Candice was just ahead of her, and if she kept her current pace, she'd overtake her in less than 30 seconds. As she approached the other girl, she took a glance behind her, suddenly feeling like someone else was on the track with them. _'Nothing…'_ She grinned a little and waved as she passed her classmate. _'Coach was right, I definitely feel better.'_ "See ya, Candice!", she called softly as she moved even farther ahead. A little surge of anger went through her as she continued, but it vanished as she rounded the next bend.

The bell rang and she just slowed into a light jog to head back to the locker room. She'd had a good run, and certainly felt a lot better. She almost hated to get changed and head home, but going home would make her feel even better, though the ride certainly wouldn't. She hated the bus, almost as much as the bus seemed to hate her.

* * *

"Mom, I'm home!"

"In here, sweetie! I'm in the living room with your friend!"

"My friend?" Nancy called back as she plopped her backpack down by the door so that it would be ready for her tomorrow. "Which one?"

"Pietro? One of the guys from the track team?" Mrs. DuLauncet answered as her daughter came through the archway and into the living room.

Nancy's eyes widened as her eyes fell on the slim, silver haired boy sitting across from her mother. What was he doing? He wasn't her friend; she'd never even seen him before!

"Nance! Hey, how ya doing?" He was up and giving her a side-hug before she could say anything to correct her mother. "Saw you out on the field today, you're pretty fast. You had little blondie licked without even breaking a sweat." He chuckled. "With you on the team, the school will do great this year. Thanks for the cookies, Mrs. DuLauncet! Come on, let's go out back and hang out, Nance."

Before Nancy could protest, the strange guy was pulling her arm toward the backdoor as her mother waved them on, as if in encouragement. She felt giddy all of the sudden, but she didn't know why. She certainly didn't have a crush on the creep who had lied to her mother and had apparently been watching her all afternoon, that was for sure.

As soon as the door closed, Nancy jerked her hand out of his grip. "Who are you? Why are you here and telling my mom that we're friends? I've never even seen you before!" She spit out before he could grab her again.

"Didn't you hear your mom? My name is Pietro. And I want to be your friend. I was just reading a little into the future when I said I was already your friend." He chuckled, striking a pose. "After all, who wouldn't want to be _my_ friend?"

"Um… Me? Like I said, I don't even know you, Plus you were watching me?! No one was out there on the field, so no one could have told you that I passed Candice."

"I was watching you because we've got some stuff in common." He answered. "People who have stuff in common should be friends, ya know?" He said before running in a single circle around her, his movements so fast that they kicked up a small breeze and it was like he had never moved at all. "You're not as fast as me, but you've got a leg up on the rest of the snails around New York, and ya know, the rest of the world. It's too small a place, dontcha think?"

* * *

[ _That's right, Ororo, I think your help will be invaluable in convincing young Miss DuLauncet to join us at the Institute._ ]

 _'If you say so, Charles. I still don't know how I will be of help in convincing a seventeen year old to come here. Wouldn't Jean or Kitty be a better choice?'_

[ _No, Ororo, this girl needs stability. Jean and Kitty are adjusted, but still far too affected by what happens at Bayville High. You don't have the same drama and you have a greater grip on who you are. That is what will help Miss DuLauncet. I'd like you to leave for Lake Placid after lunch, tomorrow. That will enable you to arrive just before the last bell._ ]


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I still don't own the X-Men!

Please, let me know what you think!

"Speech"

' _Thought_ '

[CEREBRO]

[ _Telepathy_ ]

* * *

 **Chapter 02: An Unwelcome Revelation**

Nancy's eyes widened in fear as she watched the silver-haired teen seemingly vanish and reappear in an instant. The breeze around her told her he hadn't disappeared, he had moved, and he had moved fast. "What… What do you want?" She finally managed to gulp. She had heard whispers of people with strange abilities. Mutants. Freaks. Weirdos. Those were the phrases she had only heard, but now one of them had lied to her mother and had her alone.

Pietro stumbled back from the girl's reaction. She was so scared. He could almost feel the fear rolling off of her. "Hey, come on, chill out. I ain't gonna hurt you. I told you, I wanna be your friend." He said, zipping to her side. In hindsight, he realized that probably wasn't the best thing to do. No sooner than he put his arm around her, a sharp pain erupted in his ribs. "Oh! Come on, what was that for?"

Nancy didn't even have to remove her elbow from Pietro's side; he had already zipped a few feet away to nurse his new bruise. "Don't touch me. Ever. Do you understand? I'm not a doll and I'm not a toy you can just grab and try to take with you." She hissed. She was still scared, in fact, she was scared out of her mind, but it was nice to know he wasn't made of metal or diamonds or some crap like she'd heard they could be. He was flesh, he was bone; she could fight and hurt him if she had to.

"Hey, hey, hey, ease up, Nance. Fine, I won't touch you. I was just trying to reassure you, that's all. You didn't have to break one of my ribs."

"And stop calling me 'Nance'!"

Pietro put his hands up; he could tell that she was getting angry now. "Look, I didn't come here to scare you. I just wanted to talk to you. You're special, like me, and I wanted to get to know you better. Surely you won't hate a guy for telling you that you're special?"

"I don't need a guy to tell me that I'm special." She growled softly, fear turning to anger the more he rattled on. "What I do need is for you to leave." She began backing up, heading toward the door. The sooner she got away from this guy, the better she would feel.

"Fine, I'll leave, but I'll be around if you want to talk. Trust me, you're gonna want to talk. There will be more people, people who aren't all that great. They call themselves the X-Men, and they're bad news… and slow. That's why I got here first. I wanted to warn you about them. Take care… Nance."

Nancy sighed as she watched him disappear in a blur. To say she was relieved would be an understatement. _'Who the heck are the X-Men?'_ she thought as she made her way to her room and fell into bed.

* * *

[UNEXPECTED MUTANT ACTIVITY DETECTED. ACTIVITY LOCATION: LAKE PLACID, NEW YORK. ACTIVITY TYPE: ENHANCED SPEED. MUTANT IDENTIFIED: PIETRO MAXIMOFF.]

Charles Xavier sighed as he removed the helmet that connected him to the device that allowed him to discover other mutants and their locations. "How did you find her so quickly, I wonder?" He mused aloud. [ _Ororo, use caution tomorrow. Quicksilver has already made contact._ ]

* * *

The alarm screamed angrily as the hands of the clock reached half past five. Crickets and other insects were still chirping outside as Nancy groggily sat up and turned off her alarm. Groaning, she wiped the sleep from her eyes and stumbled over to the mirror on her dresser. _'I really do NOT want to go to school today…'_ she thought, as she danced from one foot to the other, the cold wood of the floor not agreeing with her warm feet.

Pulling her hair back into a pony, she silently descended the stairs and made her way to the street to begin her morning run. As she headed down the block, she thought back on everything that had happened the day before. The headache, the intensified feelings in class and on the track, as well as her interaction with that weird Pietro guy, all were running through her mind almost as fast as that freak had moved after she hit him. "Nothing makes sense anymore…"

"Hey, Nancy, see you out on the track today?" asked an attractive brunette as she passed Nancy's locker.

"Sure thing, Beth!" Nancy called back as she opened her locker. She was about to say something else to her teammate, but an envelope that had her name on it caught her eye. "Holy…" she whispered under her breath as she opened the mysterious envelope. She could hardly believe it. Inside the envelope were not four, but six pages of equations and a little, anonymous note that declared the author's dislike of how she was treated in class the day previous.

Nothing was going to bring her down, that much she had already decided. She even made it through Ms. Habersham's class with minimal problems. She got a funny look when she handed in the equations, and she could almost cut the surprise in the room with a dull knife, but it wasn't going to bother her. Maybe the day before had just been a dream? She had almost convinced herself of that when she saw him.

Pietro chuckled as Nancy's expression changed. It really was funny when people noticed him as if he appeared out of nowhere. He did in a way, but that was neither here nor there. "Nance! How ya doing? Teacher like those problems? I think you'll get a good grade. Don't thank me, it only took a few seconds."

Her jaw dropped. "That was you?" She finally managed to ask him.

"You catch on fast!" he cackled. Making his way over to her, he leaned against a locker. "Given any more thought to what I said? We're not the only ones, and Me and my buddies could help you train. You come back to Bayville with me, switch schools, and Mystique can fix up a room in the Brotherhood house for you."

Nancy didn't understand. Why was he coming to her, why where such strange things happening to her? "I'm not a mutant!" She hissed under her breath. She certainly wasn't going to switch schools, and she wasn't leaving home. "Go away, Pietro."

"So, you remembered my name, did ya?" He said with a wink. "Everybody wants a piece of Quicksilver. It was only a matter of time until you succumbed to my char- Whoa!"

A blur was all Nancy saw as she attempted to make her fist connect with the arrogant twit, who until milliseconds ago had been standing in front of her. He suddenly appeared to her left and she swung again – another miss. "Leave me alone…" She said, resigning herself to the fact that her connection yesterday had probably been a fluke. She threw her stuff into her locker and headed to the field; hopefully he would finally take the hint.

* * *

The clouds parted as the Blackbird touched down and a tall woman with dark skin and white hair walked down the off ramp. _'That's better'_ she thought with a smile. She wasn't far from the school, and could easily get there in a few minutes. Ororo Munroe had made it to Lake Placid to meet with Nancy who, she knew from talking with Xavier, was just coming into her powers.

The sun reflected off of the woman's "X" shaped belt buckle as she walked. Charles had already called ahead and gotten her a pass to enter the school, and she was made aware that the girl for whom she was looking was currently in track practice.

Ororo, or Storm as the rest of the X-Men knew her, flashed her pass. "Hello, I'm here to see Nancy DuLauncet. Where is the track field?" She asked the woman at the door.

"Ahh, Ms. Munroe, we've been expecting you. The way to the athletics field is down this hallway, left and down that hallway, and then to the right. Please, enjoy your visit at Lake Placid High."

* * *

Nancy huffed as her ear bud fell out again. She was finishing up her sixth lap and her teammates had already headed back to the locker room, but she wanted to hit ten before she called it quits. It was when she replaced her ear bud that she saw her. In the stands was a very regal-looking woman with a dark complexion. She was just sitting there, watching. It was enough to make her stop in her tracks.

Storm rose and descended the steps to the fence, watching as the teen came closer. She was wary, that much she could observe. _'If Charles is right, this girl probably already knows who I am, or at least where I am from.'_

"Who are you?" Nancy asked, an accusing tone coloring her voice. "Did Pietro send you to bother me too?" She looked the woman up and down. She appeared more classy than Pietro, more refined and less full of herself, but still just as unnerving.

"No child. I am not with Pietro. He is a troubled young man, and though I would like to help him, I cannot. However, if you will allow me, I can help you." The woman replied, her voice level and containing an air of gravitas.

It was then that Nancy's eye locked on her belt. "You're with the X-Men, aren't you? Pietro told me you would come. He said you're bad news, and that I shouldn't trust you. Why can't you people just leave me alone?!"

Storm could almost feel the uncertainty, the fear, and the anger emitting from the young girl before her. "Yes, child, I am one of the X-Men. My name is Ororo, and you should trust me because I care. I know what you're going through, I know how you feel. I've been there, child, and I've come out on the other side. I am not part of the 'bad news' about which Pietro speaks."

Nancy backed away from the fence. The woman was calm, she didn't appear malevolent, she didn't _feel_ malevolent either, but what kind of adult shows up like she did?! "N-no. I don't believe you. How did you even find me? Why did you find me? J-just stay away from me!" she shouted, turning and running toward the locker room. She had to get home. Forget ten laps, she just wanted things back to normal!

She gasped sharply and grunted as her butt hit the ground. "W-what?" she muttered as she rose. Her eyes fell on Pietro as she dusted herself off. "What do you want now?"

"I told you they would come Nance. They want you for their army. They are always attacking us because they are jealous and want every mutant to live by their rules. We just want to help you… I… want to help you."

"If they are always attacking you, why on earth would I go with you!?"

Pietro sighed. "Because you stand a better chance when you're not alone. You stand a better chance with proper training. They can't get to you if you've got friends watching your back…"

* * *

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I still don't own the X-Men!

Please, let me know what you think!

"Speech"

' _Thought_ '

[CEREBRO]

[ _Telepathy_ ]

* * *

 **Chapter 03: An Unexpected Heritage**

Tap. Tap. Tap. The heel of Nancy's shoe bounced off of the tree trunk as she sat high in the branches. ' _I am not a mutant. I just can't be. There's nothing special about me; I definitely don't have any sort of power, that's for sure.'_ The leaves rustled as she shifted her weight and as a cool breeze blew through. Winter was coming early.

"Nancy? Are you out here?" Her mother's voice cut through her thoughts of the past few days and everything they could mean.

"Yeah, I'm up here, mom." She muttered. She was up there, but was she safe? She hadn't been able to shake what Pietro had told her. Were the X-Men really going to come after her? He was right the first time. Maybe she wasn't a mutant, but they obviously thought she was… maybe that was all that mattered.

"Well, come on down, please; dinner's almost ready." Her mother gasped as Nancy landed behind her with a small thud. "N-nancy, don't do that! You know how that scares me. It's dangerous jumping from so high."

"Come on mom," she said, looking up to the branch from which she had jumped, "it's only like ten feet. That's nothing."

"Well, your nothing is my something. Now, come on in and get cleaned up before you give me a heart attack." Mrs. DuLauncet turned and began walking back to the door when she noticed that her daughter was not following. "

Leandra turned and saw that glistening droplets of water were beginning to form in Nancy's eyes. "Nancy? Nancy, what's wrong, honey?" She asked as she rushed to her side and wrapped her arms around her. "Is it that boy? Did he do something to you?" She suddenly put her hands on Nancy's shoulders and looked into her eyes, her voice turned serious. "Did he hurt you?"

Tears fell as Nancy shook her head. "No, Mom, Pietro didn't hurt me… He warned me, and he was right. He said some people were gonna come... some people were gonna come l-looking for me, and then they did. He said they think I'm a mutant. And then they actually showed up! I thought he was crazy, some sort of freak or something, but they came, Mom! Some lady showed up at school and talked to me on the field the other day!"

Fear and anger alike were coursing through Nancy as she finally told her mother about what had happened the last few days. She described everything from the headaches and nausea in class, feeling like she was being watched on the track field, and when the strange woman had appeared just like Pietro had said.

The sun had already set by the time she was finished, and though it had been painful to go through some of it, especially when her mom asked questions to which even she didn't know the answer, she felt better once she had told her mother.

"Oh, honey…" Leandra said, sitting on the picnic table and cupping Nancy's face with her hands. "I'm so sorry… I should have noticed sooner…"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

Leandra looked at her daughter and stroked her cheek, the touch feeling as gentle as a breeze. "Pietro... these X-Men… they're right, honey. You're special, just like your father was."

A choked sob escaped Nancy's throat. "Daddy? Daddy was one of them?" She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and shook her head. She couldn't believe it. How could they not have told her? "Wait? Did they come for him too? Is that really how he…?"

"No, honey… no one killed your father; he really did die in a car accident." Leandra sighed. She didn't think this day was going to come. When Nancy hadn't outwardly shown evidence of the X gene, she thought that the past was behind them. Clearly that was not to be the case.

"We weren't going to say anything unless you showed some sign, and when your father died, and when puberty came and went for you without any change other than what I was already expecting, I thought this conversation would never happen".

"How could you? You weren't going to tell me about him? Ever?" Nancy almost shouted. She studied her mother carefully as she awaited an answer, the woman's similar sandy hair – now streaked with grey, the beginnings of crow's feet around her green eyes, and her thin mouth that had fallen into a sad frown. She'd never realized it, but her mother didn't look her age. What should have been the vibrant eyes of someone not yet 40 were the dull eyes of someone easily 45 or 50, and what should have been a thick head of hair only beginning to thin and grey was already thinning and established.

"Wait, no, I'm so sorry, Mom." She said hugging her. "I know it has been hard for you too. I know you miss him, and you've done so much. I'm sorry…"

"It's okay. I should have told you." Leandra replied, wiping a tear from her own eye. "After all, I can only hug you now because of your father's abilities." She paused a moment before continuing; it seemed so long ago. "You were in the car with him. After the accident you talked about an angel for years, and you were only a toddler when it happened - the doctors said children who experience trauma often make up special stories to deal with the pain of loss. But I knew the truth. Your father could focus his emotions and project them into reality. He created something that looked like an angel to carry you from the car. Even though he tried to explain his powers before we married, I don't know how it worked, but I know he loved you. He loved you so much, honey. That is what saved you. His love for you became an angel and brought you to me."

Nancy sat down in shock. "I was with Daddy?" She could hardly believe it. She couldn't cry any more. After the week she'd experienced and the rest of the evening, it felt like she didn't have any tears left to cry.

"I think… I think maybe you should go with Pietro, honey." Leandra rose from the table and looked out into the darkness. A few bats flitted overhead and their chittering could be heard as she paused. "If he can help you, and his friends can protect you, that is more than I can give you right now. As much as I hate the thought of you leaving me, I hate the thought of losing you more. Whether I would lose you to other people or to your own inability to understand and control your developing abilities doesn't matter. I-I want what is best for you."

"Mom?" Nancy said, proving herself wrong and beginning to tear up once more as she felt sadness settle in her chest.

"This is _my_ angel… this is my blessing. Go with Pietro. Learn to fully embrace the wonderful, beautiful girl – my little girl – that you are. I'll handle things with the school. You just better not f-forget to call me once and a while."

"I love you, Mom!" Nancy cried as she pulled her mother into a hug and sobbed into her chest. She knew she was right, but that didn't make it any easier. For about the fifth day in a row, Nancy's hazel eyes were covered in red lines and her usually ruddy complexion was even darker than normal. There was a strange pride in heart, it was bittersweet, but it was pride nonetheless. She could do this. She could join the Brotherhood and learn to control whatever it was that she could do. She would do it for her mother, and she would do it for her father.

* * *

A/N: Leandra DuLauncet is about 37-38 in this fic.

Please, let me know what you think so far!


End file.
